Through February:
Both, the Bavarian National Museum and the Museum of Fishing and Hunting will present historical crèches during the winter season.

Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
(Bavarian National Museum)


Among the many treasures of cultural history at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum is the world’s largest—and perhaps best—collection of crèches. Most are multi-part Christmas scenes that were created in the Alpine region and Italy between 1700 and 1850. The museum owes most of this exceptional exhibition to Max Schmederer (1854–1917), who spent his life passionately gathering crèche scenes from Bavaria, Tyrol and even Naples. Each year, the philanthropist used to open his private premises to present his latest acquisitions to Munich residents. Before his death, he bequeathed his most valuable pieces to the museum, and dictated the assembly of the figures, which remains unchanged to this day. A tour of the Krippensammlung (crèche collection) is a quaint introduction to the imagery of medieval  religious and pious baroque staging. For more information, visit bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de.



Jagd- und Fischereimuseum
(Museum of Hunting and Fishing)

Located in a secularized church in the pedestrian zone, the Museum of Hunting and Fishing will focus on domestic crèche collections this year. Long before Christmas trees became popular in the 19th century, German households arranged Christmas figures during the Advent season. Every week, the crèche was extended with another part until finally on December 24, the divine infant was placed as the centerpiece. As part of the exhibition, historical Christmas scenes from different periods will be on display showing the high art of Alpine wood carving throughout the centuries. For more information, visit jagd-fischerei-museum.de.